


Operation Spook

by HappyLadyLoki



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, Ben and Klaus are best buds, Gen, I can't not hear that Irish accent, Klaus is an idiot, Klaus may or may not be Nathan Young in disguise, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Mischief, Sibling Bonding, Some Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-14 08:12:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyLadyLoki/pseuds/HappyLadyLoki
Summary: Klaus has put down the drugs and picked up the ghostly mischief. When using Ben for mundane pranks becomes too boring, he comes up with a plan to use his ability for something much larger, much funnier and much more complicated. This plan is Operation Spook, and it's not going to be as easy as Klaus thinks it will.Set in an AU where there is no apocalypse, only Reginald's death.





	1. A Brilliant Idea

**Author's Note:**

> Angst isn't always my thing, so here's something that could almost pass for a complete joke.  
> Disclaimer: I am British so if Klaus and Ben suffer from some British traits then I'm sorry :(

Klaus had been sober for too long. Not by his judgement, he quite enjoyed his newfound life. His siblings, however, could not be less amused. With sobriety came the return of his powers, and most notably his ability to allow Ben to materialise. Which was a great thing, in theory. However, as the novelty of seeing Ben wore off, the annoyance of an invisible person stealing items and pulling chairs out from underneath people was building up. It didn't even make sense - why wasn't Ben always visible? Klaus didn't even know how it worked, much less anybody else. He sure found it hilarious though.

Klaus had little goals in life, but had now swapped 'getting as high as humanly possibly' for 'find comedy in using Ben to annoy people'. He would argue this was much better for him (and his internal organs). Nobody seemed amused though. Luckily for them, Klaus had set his sights a little higher, getting slightly bored with the trivial pranks he'd been pulling. Surely there was more fun to be had.

It was on a Saturday evening whilst he was in the bath that the idea came to him. The best idea he had ever had. Something that was not only hilarious, witty and brilliant, but was also going to deliver him some serious cash. All he needed was for his siblings to either help out or vacate the house for one night. Oh, and absolute control over his power.

"Ben!" Klaus exclaimed, causing his brother to jump. Klaus sat straight up in the bath, a crazy smile on his face. His eyes were gleaming.

Ben frowned. Oh, God.

"Uh, that's me," he nodded.

Klaus turned to look at him with the same look. Ben knew. He _knew_. Klaus had come up with a way to exploit both of them and a whole load of other dead people. For money. And laughs.

To Ben, doing these kinds of things really didn't mean much. He liked joking around. Being dead was very, very boring. But he'd seen this look only once or twice before, and it was always trouble. Fun, but definitely trouble.

"What if," Klaus grinned, "we use the house as a haunted mansion this Halloween. Except I actually conjure people's dead relatives!"

Ben made a sound of utter disgust. "People's relatives? Jesus, Klaus."

Klaus rolled his eyes with a tut. "Okay, okay, not their relatives. But real dead people, yeah? It's brilliant!"

Ben shook his head with a slight chuckle. He could actually be on to something here. Even though it was rather morbid, it'd definitely be the real deal. Certainly some people would be interested. Ben could keep Klaus in line with his moral code. It wasn't that bad of an idea.

"Alright, I'll bite," Ben said. "But this is going to take some serious hard work."

Klaus waved dismissively. "It's March. We've got oceans of time."

And with that, Operation Spook had begun. Neither Klaus nor Ben doubted that they would actually see it through. They did doubt the quality of what they were going to present. It all depended on how far Klaus could push his ability. He had until October to learn as much as possible, which, although it seemed long, probably wasn't that long at all. Both Klaus and Ben had their work cut out for them.

"What are you smirking about?" Diego asked later, when Klaus sat on the couch in the living area of the house. He was a bit vacant, thinking of potential rooms in the house he could use for Operation Spook.

“Oh, nothing,” Klaus said. Diego would probably shoot down his wild plans in this early phase of development. Klaus needed to be able to prove he was actually capable of doing more than just conjuring Ben before he could reveal his grand scheme. And anyway, it wasn’t like it had much credibility yet. _Oh, I’m just thinking about exploiting our living area for money. You in?_ Nah, that was probably a bad idea. Even Klaus had some common sense.

Diego scowled, obviously aware that this wasn’t nothing, but not interested enough to push for more information. He walked off to leave the house, clearly on some errand that nobody cared about. Ben waved at him condescendingly as he left. Klaus snorted.

“Alright, so, the most important thing right now is for you to learn how to conjure multiple people,” Ben said once Diego had disappeared out of sight.

Klaus nodded, though he hadn’t the slightest idea how he was supposed to do that. He could only control Ben to some extent. He couldn’t even control when and where he saw dead people, although they did seem to hang around their murderers or the houses they died in. Where was he even meant to start?

“That sounds great!” Klaus nodded somewhat sarcastically. “Any brilliant ideas as to how one might do such a thing?”

Ben chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. The verb ‘trying’ was not in Klaus’s vocabulary. Unless ‘trying Ben’s patience’ counted. “Raid Dad’s study for information? Go back to your favourite cemetery?”

An eccentric shudder went through Klaus’s body at that. The cemetery? Yeah, right. He was never going back there.

“Dad’s study! How didn’t I think of that?” he grinned. He didn’t know how much of his documentation was actually still there, as he’d thrown most of it in the trash when he’d…well, when he’d sold that box for drugs. But it couldn’t hurt to have a look.

He got off the couch, holding his right hand up for a high five. Ben rolled his eyes as he hit his palm against his brother’s. A potentially unlimited ability to summon the dead, and he used it to high-five his dead brother. Klaus, even when sober, was a very weird person.

“Well, let’s go, then,” Klaus said, seemingly more to himself than to Ben.

“What? No,” Ben frowned, stepping out in front of him. “We can’t just walk in there.”

Klaus looked at Ben in confusion. “Why not?”

Ben sighed. “How are you going to explain to whoever walks in on us looking through Dad’s belongings that you’re not out to sell all of it?”

Klaus put his hands on his hips. Oh, and Ben knew everything now, did he? He was sober, he didn’t go around stealing things for money anymore! Surely his siblings knew that.

“I’ll tell them that I want to learn more about my ability and need Dad’s work to help me,” Klaus said, looking quite proud of himself.

Ben raised an eyebrow. “Trust me. It’s better to do this when we’re on our own.”

Klaus started, his mouth open in some sort of silent protest. Ben watched as he went through about seven different expressions, folding his arms, then pointing at Ben, then folding his arms again. After a while he sighed and nodded.

“Alright. We wait until we’re alone,” Klaus agreed.

Unfortunately for Klaus and Ben, they weren’t the only ones with no other place to live. Vanya and Allison were the only ones that never slept in the house. Luther’s only home was on the moon, which was a bit too far for a round trip every evening. Diego seemed to prefer the house over his disgusting basement room. Five had nowhere else to go. Safe to say, it would be a long time before they were ever really alone.

Days passed and the closest they came to being alone in the house was at night when Diego had gone out, chasing a call on his police scanner. Five was somewhere, not in the house at least, and Luther was asleep. Klaus thought it was the perfect moment, but Ben still wanted to wait.

“Dude, let’s just go in. Luther is the most normal of all of us, if he finds us, he might listen,” Klaus whispered as they stood in front of the study.

Ben closed his eyes, and with a reluctant sigh finally nodded. “Alright, let’s do it.” 

Klaus grinned like a little kid at Christmas and pushed the door open. The two of them went inside, Klaus carefully shutting the door behind them. Piece of cake. What had Ben been so worried about? Klaus, rubbing his hand excitedly, turned around, ready to learn as much as he could about himself.

His grin melted off of his face like snow on a warm day.

“Uh, Klaus?” Ben whispered, fear present on his face. “Can you stop?”

Klaus swallowed, his eyes wide. He wasn’t in control of this. Just as he wasn’t in control of seeing Ben. He hadn’t asked for this.

And yet, despite his wishes, there he was. Reginald Hargreeves. Sitting in his chair as if nothing had changed. The same cold, dead look in his eyes as he stared at Klaus.

“Well,” Klaus squeaked, his voice shrill and terrified, “I don’t think we’ll have much trouble trying to find information.”


	2. A Brilliant Idea?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go wrong for our protagonist :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write Klaus without automatically hearing Robert's Irish accent and it's doing my head in o m g

Klaus stood opposite his dead father, his body rigid with fear. Oh, Lord, he'd stolen half of his belongings to buy drugs. Did he know? He probably knew.

''Number Four,'' Reginald nodded. Was that meant to be a greeting?

Klaus opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but had no idea what to say, He turned to look at Ben, who looked just as unsettled as Klaus. Ben shook his head. He was _not_ going to be the one to do the talking here.

''Number Six,'' Reginald continued with another nod.

Ben gave half a smile in return, but it looked more like a petrified scowl. Both of them stood in silence, completely taken by surprise. Why had he only shown up now? Klaus hadn't conjured him. Much like Ben, Reginald had just showed up of his own accord. Of all the horrors Klaus had seen since he'd become sober, this was the absolute worst.

''D-Dad,'' Klaus stuttered, clearing his throat. ''How uh, good to see you, so...alive?''

"Yes," Reginald responded, as if it was only natural for him to be there. "You've come to steal more of my belongings?"

He knew. Klaus couldn't go back now. He let out a breathy chuckle, shrugging as he tried to conceal his nerves.

"No, no," he laughed. "Uh, I wanted to uh, develop my ability."

He shot Ben a terrified look. Ben himself wished the floor would absorb him. 

"That explains my appearance, then," Reginald nodded. "You've stopped poisoning yourself."

"Only physically," Klaus muttered under his breath before giving his father a smile.

His father did not smile back.

"You wish to exploit your powers to frighten and entertain," he said in a scolding manner. "Like some sort of cheap magician."

Klaus shrugged. That was exactly right. It wasn't as if his father had ever given him the real means to be anything more than that.

''So what?'' he said. ''Don't you want to help your son further develop his ability to speak to the dead?''

Reginald didn't need to respond. _If looks could kill..._

''What harm could it do?'' Ben spoke up, though he looked like he'd shit himself.

A sigh from their late father. ''Number Six, I do believe Number Four can fight his own battles.''

Klaus gave an affronted sigh. ''I can! I'm the one that's making it possible for you both to be here. Ben's like...my weapon!''

Both Ben and Reginald turned to him with raised eyebrows. Klaus pouted. That had sounded much better in his head.

''In any case,'' Reginald continued, not even bothering to respond to Klaus's verbal diarrhea, ''I would be willing to help you, Number Four.''

Klaus's mouth fell open, completely surprised. What? His father wanted to be a participant in their weirdness? Maybe death had made him softer after all. Ben looked equally confused.

''On one condition,'' the old man continued. ''You ensure the team stays together. All of you.''

He...what? The team? Did he mean The Umbrella Academy? They’d only returned to the house to solve the mystery of his father’s death, there was no way they would team up again. They had nothing to fight against. Hell, most of them didn’t even like each other.

Klaus put his hands on his hips. “That’s impossible.”

“It isn’t,” Ben quipped. “They just need a reason to stay.”

Klaus shot him a deadpan look.

“Just say yes,” Ben mouthed, his eyes widening. 

Klaus turned to his father again. What was the worst that could happen? He could always turn back to the drugs and stop his father from appearing. That was a terrible plan, but a plan nonetheless. Yikes. Not that he wouldn’t do his best to keep the Academy together, but honestly, he knew there was little hope.

“Agreed,” he scowled.

“Excellent,” Reginald nodded. “I think we have a cemetery to visit, Number Four.”

Klaus sighed unhappily. “Oh, Jeez.”

Despite Ben’s earlier qualms, it seemed Luther hadn’t woken up. Neither Five nor Diego had returned home. It was quiet, save for Klaus’s reluctant whimpering as he walked to his favourite place on earth. Why did he even need to go there? He could see two ghosts already, couldn’t he use them to practice?

Yikes, using his dead father to practice summoning ghosts. Maybe it did make sense to use some less terrifying apparitions.

“Stay with me?” Klaus whispered under his breath to Ben. “I really don’t want to do this alone.”

Ben smirked. “Duh.”

Either Reginald hadn’t heard them or didn’t care less, because he let both Klaus and Ben enter the cemetery/mausoleum/concrete room of horrors before closing the door behind them.

And that was it. No instructions, no words of advice. Just the locking of the door, leaving Klaus and Ben behind to fend for themselves. It didn’t feel like Reginald was helping them at all.

“I get the feeling he’s just locked me in here for revenge,” Klaus groaned. “For stealing his stuff.”

“Well, he's gone now,” Ben hummed. "What happens if you can't conjure him again?"

Klaus looked at him in horror. “Oh fuck! Oh my god! We’ll be locked in here forever!”

Ben chuckled at his dramatic outcry. “You will. I can leave whenever I want. I’m already dead.”

“My ass. I’ll just bring you back,” Klaus grunted. “Jesus, what a joke!”

They sat there on the cold, damp floor, silence surrounding them. What a brilliant plan this had been, truly. All they could do now was sit and wait.

After about half an hour, it was clear Reginald wasn’t going to come back. Klaus thought he’d come back after a while to give further advice, but as time went by he became less and less hopeful. He needed to use the toilet, too.

“Dad?” Klaus yelled out. “This isn’t funny!”

He sighed, his arms around his knees, pulling his legs up into his chest. What a joke this was. Maybe his father thought this was a great way to convince him not to become some so-called ‘cheap magician’. Even as a ghost, he was a pain in the ass.

“Can’t you conjure him in here?” Ben asked.

Klaus rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes, very good! No, dammit, if I knew how it worked, I wouldn’t be here!”

Ben gave him a look similar to a parent trying to convince their child to actually make an effort for once. Very condescending.

At least the weird ghost voices hadn’t started yet.

“Okay, so what if I leave, and you try to conjure me?” Ben suggested. “Then you can figure out how it works and eventually conjure Dad.”

Klaus shook his head feverishly. “I don’t want to be in here alone.”

Ben sighed, sitting down next to his brother. Klaus’s eyes followed him as he sat down.

“Alright,” Ben nodded. “We’ll think of something else.”

Klaus hummed in agreement, shuffling closer to Ben. Though they were always making fun of each other and swearing at each other, but when it came down to it, they only really had each other. Ben’s existence literally depended on Klaus, and Klaus never had anybody who stuck around apart from his brother, who had no other choice. They relied on each other. They cared about each other.

And here they were, trapped in a creepy ghost room.

“How about you go outside and unlock the door?” Klaus asked Ben.

Ben shook his head. “I can try, but from what I’ve gathered I’m only here if you can see me.”

Could he have been any more vague?

“What does that mean?” Klaus frowned.

“I can’t interact with the door if you can’t let me manifest. As far as I know, you can only do that if you can see me,” Ben explained.

Of course. _Of course_ it wouldn’t be easy. Klaus was starting to believe they were actually trapped. 

“It’s worth a try, right?” Klaus said.

Ben shrugged. “If you want.”

“Yeah,” Klaus nodded.

Ben stood up awkwardly. Klaus just stared at him. Ben had the feeling that Klaus definitely had to be doing more than just sitting and clutching his legs for this to work. Nonetheless, he walked to the door. 

“Well, here goes,” Ben mumbled.

Klaus watched as he disappeared. Then he waited.

Oh, _Christ_.

He stood up, wobbling a little as he walked towards the door, his eyebrows raised in worry. If this was a joke, he would make Ben materialise just so he could punch him in the face.

“Ben?” Klaus called out, pressing his palm against the door. He tried the handle. The door didn’t budge.

There was no response from his deceased brother. There were no footsteps. There was no sign of him breathing. Nothing.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath, before calling out again. “Ben? Are you there?”

Once again he was met with nothing but silence. Not only had his father disappeared, but his brother had, too. He was still locked in a room with no food or water, desperately needing to go to the toilet, and now he was all alone, too.

“Ben!” he shouted, banging on the door wildly, his heart racing. “Ben!”

On the other side of the door there was nothing but an empty hallway and the dull banging of Klaus’s fists on the locked door.

" _Ben!_ "


	3. Breakthrough!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Ben try to open a door. Reginald is not telling them everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, there are some jokes about bodily functions so for those who don't like childish humour, hold on to your hats.

“ _Ben!_ ”

Klaus gasped, a noise somewhere between a sob and a sigh. What a joke. This could only happen to him, couldn’t it?

“Yeah, I’m here!”

Klaus froze, his palm still pressed against the door. Oh. He’d panicked for no reason. Ben was fine. He was fine.

“Are you crying?” Ben laughed, his voice muffled by the door.

“No,” Klaus tutted, wiping his cheeks. He hadn’t noticed he’d been crying. Then again, it wasn’t difficult to make Klaus cry.

“Sure,” Ben responded. “Okay, so I can’t turn the lock, I’m not solid.”

“Well, what did you expect?” Klaus muttered. “Give me a minute to collect myself.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Klaus yelled.

Okay, he needed to calm down. Ben was fine. He was fine. He was overreacting. The sooner they could unlock the door, the sooner he could re-conjure his father and give him a piece of his mind.

He chuckled.

“Did you just say you’re not solid?” Klaus laughed.

He heard some sort of grumble from the other side of the door. ‘Not solid’. That sounded funny.

He needed to go to the toilet.

“It’s no use, Klaus,” Ben called out. “Can you try?”

He specifically didn’t say ‘try harder’ or ‘try again’ because if he knew anything about Klaus, it was that trying wasn’t in his - wait, he’d thought this earlier. Well, that just went to show how bad Klaus was at trying anything.

“Ben, I need to pee,” Klaus said.

“Not now, Klaus, you need to concentrate,” Ben responded. “Dude.”

Klaus shook his head. “I really need to go, man. Get me out of here!”

Ben groaned. “I can’t, I’m dead.”

It was funny how Klaus thought Ben had any control over this situation. It was all his own doing. He really needed to relieve himself, though, and he was not going to use this graveyard as a toilet. What if he pissed on someone’s face?

“I’m serious!” Klaus pleaded.

Oh, no, he was going to piss himself! Okay, quick, Klaus, materialise Ben. That wasn’t so hard. He’d done it countless times. All he had to do was look at him and imagine him turning the lock. Easy!

Okay, so he couldn’t look at Ben, but he could definitely imagine him standing there, opening the door. He just needed to focus…

“Oh my God,” Ben groaned.

There he was! Ben was back in the room with him. Klaus had done it! His imagination had worked!

“Well done, idiot,” Ben said. “But maybe it would have been better if you’d have left me on the side _with the key_.”

Oh.

“Fuck,” Klaus hissed. “Okay, go back, I’ll try again.”

Ben walked back outside, standing in front of the door, trying to grab the key, waiting until he could actually interact with it.

“I need to piss,” Klaus hummed as he scrunched his eyes. He knew what the door looked like. He knew what the key looked like. He certainly knew what Ben looked like. He could do this.

_Turn the key. Turn the key. Turn the key, Ben. Dammit, I need the-_

“Nope,” Ben said as Klaus made him reappear in the room again.

“Dammit!” Klaus cursed. “Why can I do this, but I can’t let you turn one little key?”

“Because you can’t see me,” Ben clarified.

Klaus knew that, duh. “That was a rhetorical question!”

Ben just shrugged before heading back out again. Klaus was about half a minute away from actually soiling himself. He needed to get out of this hell hole (literally). He took a deep breath as he stumbled over to the door. He was desperate. He’d do anything.

“Is it working?” Klaus asked.

“What do you think?” Ben grunted.

Klaus closed his eyes in frustration. “Oh God.”

He just wanted to get out of here. He hated this room. Ben was right there, with the key, but there was no way he could manifest him without seeing him. Oh, please, Ben. He needed his help. Klaus pressed his head against the door. This was so embarrassing.

Please, please, please, please…

The door swung open, hitting Klaus in the face as Ben’s euphoric laughter met his ears. Klaus stumbled backwards, relieved as light shone on to his face.

“We did it!” Ben chuckled as he tried to embrace his brother, but was quickly pushed away.

“Great, I have some business to attend to, be right back,” Klaus said hurriedly as he sprinted off to the nearest bathroom.

Ben laughed as he watched him go, key falling from his hand as he lost his physical body. He didn’t know what had happened, what had given Klaus the strength to let Ben turn the key, but he’d done it. Stupid idiot. Klaus really didn’t give himself enough credit.

Klaus returned quite quickly, looking a lot happier. He’d not only made it out of that god awful mausoleum, he’d also managed to extend his powers and avoid making a mess. Once again, he held his hand up in the air. Ben high-fived him with a grin.

“We’re like Danny Phantom,” Klaus smirked.

“Danny Phantom is one person,” Ben laughed with a disbelieving look on his face.

“Technically, so are we.”

They both laughed, both at the (bad) joke and their previous predicament. Klaus closed the door, which was still open, as Ben hadn’t been able to close it again. So, now Klaus knew he could still manifest Ben even when Ben wasn’t visible. Great.

As they began to walk back to Reginald’s study, they heard clapping from behind them. Neither of them needed to turn around to know who it was.

“Well done, Number Four,” Reginald said. Was that pride in his voice?

Klaus swivelled around dramatically, his legs crossed. Klaus had practised that move many times, and it had also resulted in his 20-year-old self face-planting onto the floor. But oh, how his hard work had paid off, because now he’d got to dramatically turn to face his father. Tick that off the bucket list.

“What was the point in locking us in there, exactly?” he asked.

Reginald chuckled, slowly advancing on the two brothers. His stoic expression was somewhat lightened – only a little, but it was the most light-hearted Klaus had ever seen him.

“Well, dear boy,” he explained. “It took you a very short while to be able to manifest Number Six without being able to see him. If that isn’t progress, I don’t know what is.”

Regrettably, Reginald had a point. Klaus couldn’t argue with that. However, his methods were very questionable, and Klaus was not going to fall for this again. 

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he said.

That was a first. Klaus had always been to afraid of his father to refuse going into the mausoleum. Now, however, his father was dead and could not physically touch him.

Wait.

How had his father locked that door?

“We’ll see,” Reginald tutted.

Klaus was just as powerless to stop his father as he had been when he was still alive, then. This man truly was a horror. Could nothing detain him? Even in death he was shrouded in mystery.

They walked back to Reginald’s office, where Klaus assumed Reginald would answer some of his more pressing questions. Perhaps this strange escapade had been a test of Klaus’s determination. Now that he had proven himself, Reginald could confide in him. Klaus got the feeling that this would have been a lot easier if he’d just been able to read his father’s logs.

They arrived at the study where Reginald resumed his previous sitting position, with Klaus and Ben standing awkwardly opposite them. It was as if they had gone back to an hour ago. Klaus turned to Ben and Ben shrugged back.

“I won’t give you all the answers, Number Four,” Reginald started.

Klaus sighed deeply in disappointment. No, of course not. He didn’t want some large soul-searching adventure. He just wanted to host a Halloween event. This was frustrating.

“Anything?” Klaus said meekly. “Any advice? How did you manage to physically lock the door?”

Reginald smirked. “All in good time, my boy.”

Of course.

Reginald leaned forward, his elbows on his desk. “You need to figure out what it is that makes things happen.”

Ah yes, what great advice! Had he gotten that from a fortune cookie? Jesus.

“Wow,” Klaus exclaimed.

Ben didn’t seem that amused though, as if he actually understood what Reginald meant. Klaus looked to him for comedic support, but was met with an intense stare as if he was deciphering the meaning of the universe. Klaus’s face dropped.

“And now in English?” he asked, facing his father once more.

Reginald waved a hand as if to clarify. “It seems there is a motive for your ability. If you want something desperately, you’ll have enough determination in you to make it happen. The only reason Ben managed to get you out is because you needed to-''

“Use the toilet,” Klaus finished. That actually made sense. It was the same as when Ben punched him to stop him from taking drugs. He had desperately needed someone to stop him from ruining his sobriety, not that he ever had the control to do it himself. He _wanted_ it, but wasn’t strong enough to do it.

But this was bad news, wasn’t it? How often was he going to be desperate to get through a locked door?

“So my ability is directly related to my misfortune?” Klaus concluded unhappily.

Reginald shook his head. “Only on an instinctual level. But if you can capture that feeling of desperation and produce it at will, you will be able to control your ability.”

So, he just had to pretend to need the toilet if he was stuck behind a locked door? This was very strange.

“This is more than we had to go on before we came in this room,” Ben reminded Klaus, as if he sensed his hopelessness. “Let’s at least give it a try.”

Klaus held his hands up innocently. “Fine by me. But no more trips to the mausoleum.”


	4. A-List Training Montage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Ben get to the good bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry for the late update, I had to hand in my thesis (yikes) :(
> 
> Also, for those who've read my One Of The Drunks songfic, I AM GOING TO SEE PANIC AT THE DISCO LIVE TONIGHT and I am so excited I'm probably gonna cry
> 
> Enjoy!

Reginald hadn’t showed up since the conversation Klaus and Ben had had with him in his study after escaping the mausoleum. Klaus knew he would appear mysteriously whenever they were ‘ready to move on’, or whatever. They had definitely not seen the last of him.

But whatever. It was time for an A-list training montage.

At breakfast (read: Klaus and Five sitting at the table with Diego walking in and out to grab more food and Luther sulking in the corner), it seemed that nobody had noticed Klaus’s escapade. It wasn’t as if anybody would keep that to themselves. Nonetheless, much like Diego’s inquiry yesterday, it was clear that Five was sceptical of Klaus’s good mood.

“You're up to something," Five stated as he finished his coffee with a disgusted scowl. If he didn't like it, why did he drink it? Put that on the list of The Universe's Unanswered Questions.

Diego hummed in confirmation as he walked behind him, sandwich in his mouth. He was in a hurry...but why? A mystery. Klaus figured Diego kept busy just so he didn't have to think about his shortcomings.

"I saw him smirking yesterday," Diego said as he took the sandwich out of his mouth. "Definitely something going on."

Klaus shrugged, glancing at Ben. They were going to try to allow Ben to interact with something inside the house whilst Klaus was standing outside. Ben was interested to see if it made a difference whether he could hear Klaus or not. Or, more accurately, whether Klaus could hear him. Klaus had suggested starting in roughly the same situation as they had been in yesterday, just so he could get the hang of that before moving on to bigger things.

"Okay, so you won't tell us," Five said. "Will you at least tell me I'm not going to encounter any nasty surprises? No disappearing chairs or other shenanigans?"

He couldn't promise anything. Anything could happen. He couldn't see into see into the future.

"Probably not," Klaus said with disinterest.

Truth be told, Klaus was mostly just excited that he could possibly teach himself to actually be useful. Not that there was much use for conjuring the dead, unless he became a medium.

Huh. That wasn't such a bad idea. He definitely had credibility.

Five narrowed his eyes, contemplating the situation. Diego, once again clearly not interested, grabbed a bottle of water from the worktop before leaving the room. Five waited until he was gone before continuing the conversation. Klaus sat, aloof, eating breakfast. Orange juice and eggs. Ben had good ideas from time to time.

Once Diego was out of earshot, Five turned back to Klaus with a certain amount of urgency.

"Don't go putting anyone in danger," he warned him.

Klaus blanked as Five stood up, taking his empty cup of 'fertilizer', as he called it, to the sink. Ben snorted. Whilst Five was 58 in years lived on this planet, he still looked and threatened people like a 13-year-old child. That kind of remark could unsettle no-one when coming from a prepubescent boy.

"Well, uhm, alright," Klaus agreed with a slight chuckle.

He heard the familiar sound of Five teleporting, leaving a perplexed Klaus behind. How could Klaus even put anyone in danger? He probably had the least dangerous ability of them all. What was he going to do, set their father on his siblings? Like a rabid dog?

With only Luther left in the house, Klaus decided it was time. He stood up, not bothering to clear up after himself. What was the use of doing the dishes if there was literal hell to be raised?

Klaus bounded towards the front of the house. Ben seemed less excited, but was smiling at Klaus's giddiness. Maybe Klaus was just happy to be doing something that made him feel less dead inside. In any case, he seemed motivated enough to take his ability into his own hands. He actually _giggled_ as he pushed open the front door, holding it open to talk to Ben before they went their separate ways. Ben smirked.

“Okay,” Klaus nodded, rubbing his hands in excitement. “Start easy. How about you pick up that vase?”

He pointed to a vase near the door. It was large and looked quite heavy. Ben marvelled at Klaus’s ability to come up with the worst possible plan in every scenario. A priceless vase and a ghost that could lose his physical body at any moment? Of course that was going to go well!

“Something less fragile, maybe?” Ben suggested.

Klaus shrugged. There was a small cabinet against the wall near the vase with a few books on top of it. That would do. Not nearly as cool, though. He pointed to them with disinterest.

“Excellent,” Ben agreed. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Klaus nodded, closing the door between him and Ben. Ben waved as the door shut. Klaus chuckled.

Alright. Show time.

Klaus took a deep breath. All he had to do was pretend he for some reason really needed Ben to pick up one of the books. What had he felt when he got Ben to open the door in the mausoleum? Desperation to use the toilet? That wouldn’t work.

“Alright, I’m going for the one on top,” Ben told Klaus.

“Great,” Klaus responded. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what the situation on the other side of the door looked like. What would he need a book for? Maybe to throw at someone if they were attacking him?

Okay, he could work with that.

Standing outside, he tried to imagine the feeling of being attacked and needing Ben to help him out. Klaus had always had a lively imagination, but definitely more so when he was on drugs. But, of course, his ability wouldn’t work if he was on drugs, which was good for his health, but also meant he had to do this the hard way. He exhaled softly.

Someone running towards the door to break it open and shoot him in the face. He needed to imagine that. His eyes scrunched in concentration as he tried to trick himself into hearing footsteps on the floor, the sound of someone bounding towards him, the panic that came with it, the fear. The same feeling he’d always felt as a child in that mausoleum. He shuddered.

This time, because he wasn’t actually panicking, he actually felt something. It was like a short spark of electricity shooting through his veins. Taken aback, he opened his eyes, a confused look on his face. Had he imagined it? He definitely felt a static zap. Maybe he’d been closer to the iron handles of the door than he’d thought. It hadn’t hurt, but it had definitely felt like something.

“I’ve got it!” Ben yelled, not really to Klaus’s surprise.

He heard the book drop to the floor from behind the door. Ben cursed under his breath.

“Okay, I had it,” he added. “What happened?”

Klaus tentatively reached out to grab the door handle, anticipating a painful jolt. However, nothing happened when he pulled the door open. Huh.

Ben immediately saw Klaus was figuring something out as they stood opposite each other in the door opening. Klaus’s eyes were distant, as if he was dissociating. Ben could physically see him put the pieces together.

“I was distracted,” Klaus said to answer Ben’s question. “That’s why you dropped it.”

Ben nodded. “Distracted by what?”

Klaus looked at him. “I felt something. Like, a spark.”

Ben smirked a little. Wow. That was quite something, because if he could feel that, it also meant that he knew when he had succeeded. So they at least didn’t need to communicate about whether they’d managed or not.

“Okay,” Ben said. “Let’s try again and see if it happens this time, too.”

Klaus nodded. “But don’t tell me if you’ve done it. I’ll ask.”

“Alright,” Ben agreed.

Klaus shut the door once more, a small smile on his lips. He was getting somewhere.

This time, Klaus knew what he needed to achieve. He figured that if he felt the electricity again, he’d done something. He also knew that whatever he’d done just now had worked. So he just needed to repeat that until it became easy. He closed his eyes again, trying to recreate the situation he had imagined. The sound of running, his heart pounding in his chest, Ben standing by the cabinet with access to a weapon. The will, the need to let Ben materialise. The snap of his mind as another shock went through him, as if he’d connected with something. He kept his eyes closed, not seeing, not hearing, trying to hold on to that feeling of connection. His body felt light, as if he was floating, but he could feel the ground below his feet. It felt a little bit magical. He smiled.

“Ben?” he asked. “Is it working?”

It took Ben a while to respond, because on the other side of the door, Ben also felt strange. He could actually _feel_. He felt heavy, as if a weight had been put on his shoulders. As if he was being subjected to gravity. It was strange, but it didn’t feel wrong. He put the book he was holding down, turning to the vase. He didn’t want to pick it up, but maybe he could touch it.

“Yeah,” he said as his hand met the cool porcelain of the vase. How long had it been since he’d really felt something? In the fleeting moments Klaus had made him appear, it was more of a heat of the moment, adrenaline, think and not feel situation. But this? Was this what it felt like to be alive?

His hand went straight through the vase as the weight was torn off of him. Back to normal. Back to being dead. Klaus had opened the door, stepping back inside. Ben turned to him with a serious look on his face. Whatever they’d just done, it was beyond a simple childish prank. This was on another level.

“That was insane,” Ben said softly.

“Tell me about it,” Klaus nodded. “It was like I was a ghost. As if I was like, I dunno, in touch with the universe or something.”

Ben had wide eyes as he listened to Klaus talk. They were really on to something here.

“How about,” Ben started as a plan started to form in his mind, “we start here one more time and I’ll walk further away and see how far I can get whilst still being able to interact with things.”

“Okay,” Klaus agreed. “Are you visible?”

That was a good question. They didn’t want their siblings seeing Ben walk around. As far as they knew, Klaus could only make him do stupid things, which Klaus and Ben knew where directly related to Klaus being able to see Ben, making it much easier for Klaus to project his wishes onto Ben. It would really freak them out if they suddenly saw Ben roaming the halls.

“There’s a mirror in the hall,” Ben realised. “I’ll walk past it. If I’m visible, I’ll come back straight away.”

“Good idea,” Klaus said, his head reeling with everything he was going through. He’d never felt so…so…

He’d never felt so _alive_.

Klaus went back outside, waving to Ben as the door closed. He smiled to himself as he pressed his back to the door. It had really been a while since he’d felt happy. Really happy, not just joking around to cover up the hole inside his chest. Even if Operation Spook didn’t work out in the end, it would still be worth it. It was worth it to feel joy.

He closed his eyes again, the smile still on his face. This was a good day.


End file.
